Novena Team

Saturday, April 6th from 9am – noon at Grace Coffee Co. in Middleton 

St. Zelie wanted all of her sons to become priests but none of the boys survived infancy. All of her daughters entered the convent. Her daughter Leonie struggled immensely. She was expelled from her boarding school. She left two or three convents before she finally was able to stay in one convent. This is a quote from St. Zelie about her daughter. 

“The poor child is absolutely full of faults. I don’t even know where to begin! Yesterday, she had a dreadful day. She did everything as badly as she could.”

St. Zelie understands what it is like to have challenging children. Additionally, I felt really inspired when I listened to a podcast about Sr. Miriam James Heidland. Sr. Miriam explained that during college she had become a functional alcoholic and was in an awful relationship. Her parents tried to help her but she rejected their help. Her mother felt entirely powerless in this situation. Her mother later told her that after an attempted intervention, she came home and looked at a statue of the Blessed Mother and said something like “Mary, only you can help her.” Her mother started praying not only for her conversion but that she would become a nun. It happened. She turned her life around and felt called to be a nun.

Even if you don’t feel like you are the “creative” type, we still want you to come. We need “voices of reason” and sisters to offer feedback on if the novena sounds appropriate. If you don’t feel like the “voices of reason” role fits you, just come to drink a warm beverage and provide support.